No bow roller of any kind on this one. How dense is that? How big an anchor do you plan to use? How do you plan tom get it aboard, without dinging the fancy, pretentious stuff?

Brent, at one time I found your method of boatbuilding intriguing but you really are getting tiresome. You aren't convincing anyone here of the "rightness" of your cause, you are only irritating everyone with your "Jehovah's Witness" zeal.

Time once again for you to anchor out away from Internet access I think.

__________________
I, myself, personally intend to continue being outspoken and opinionated, intolerant of all fanatics, fools and ignoramuses, deeply suspicious of all those who have "found the answer" and on my bad days, downright rude.

I just checked out some Garhauer blocks. The becket has a total of an inch of 14 gauge stainless, at 95,000 psi, tensile strength 7500 pounds. My blocks , if given an inch wide 3/16th aluminium becket at 45,000 psi, have a tensile strength of 8437 lbs. The 3/16th inch shackles on a Garhauer block has a tensile strength of 1655 per side, for a total of 3311 lbs, the weakest point . While the bearing is super strong, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. One can easily go wider on the becket on my blocks, which I usually do, something you can't do on a commercially made block. What they sell is what you get.
Checked out some Harken, Lewmar and Schafer blocks. Only tiny bits of metal holding them together, especially the beckets. Nowhere near as strong as mine , not even near s strong as a Garhaur
I don't anticipate any similar calculations from Steve ( Smackdaddy ) . Just more adolescent jeering .

I have seen your drawings Brent. I'd ask you to post some more but I don't think I want to look at them. They are crude at best and display very effectively your lack of design talent. But if you have some drawings you are proud of please, by all means post them.

I saw one of your boats posted here and I really liked it. But I give all credit to the builder, the client and not you. They managed a nice boat depsite your lack of design help. Interestingly it was missing a lot of the BS "special touches".

" Shafhauer blocks?" I have never heard of those. Could you direct me to a web site so I can see some. You didn't mean Garhauer did you?

Brent, at one time I found your method of boatbuilding intriguing but you really are getting tiresome. You aren't convincing anyone here of the "rightness" of your cause, you are only irritating everyone with your "Jehovah's Witness" zeal.

Time once again for you to anchor out away from Internet access I think.

Are you suggesting that not having a bow roller on a boat should never be questioned? Is this what they get from you for $150 an hour? How many other inadequacies do you suggest ,should be hidden, to avoid being accused of being "Tiresome?" You suggest that none of your screw ups should ever be questioned? Wouldn't it be better for you to not make them, or to correct them in the first place?
Seeing people trying to cruise in grossly inadequate boats is very tiresome, a problem created by the "tiresome" who design , build and sell such boats, while trying to hide their inadequacies from buyers.. Warning people of their inadequacies is no doubt 'Tiresome " to those trying to hide such inadequacies from potential buyers of what they are selling, and pull a fast one on them.
I'm sure the auto industry found Ralph Nader's warnings about the inadequacies of what they were selling "Tiresome."
Would you suggest that he should have not bothered to warn the public, and just let their victims die , to avoid being accused of being "Tiresome?"

Brent:
you are being silly again. The boat has had a bow roller from day one. It's all there on the drawings. I do produce drawings. It's part of our ultra expensive cast 316 s.s.s stem fitting. Pretty much a clone of the system Hinckley has used for years, effective and attractive. It's been there for anyone to see who has followed the thread. We are going to 3D print it and cast it from the 3D part. That's new and exciting for me.

I understand if you can't produce a drawing you probably can't read one either but these renderings should be plain even to you.

I think Brent has run off. He's trying to find Schafhauer blocks. He did check them out. They must exist.

I think he is confused with Professor Schaffhausen from the movie DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, one of my favs.

I'm sure you are amazed at the beauty of this design Brent but don't tell me. Flattery will get you nowhere.

I just checked out some Shafhauer blocks. The becket has a total of an inch of 14 gauge stainless, at 95,000 psi, tensile strength 7500 pounds. My blocks , if given an inch wide 3/16th aluminium becket at 45,000 psi, have a tensile strength of 8437 lbs. The 3/16th inch shackle s on a Shafhauer block has a tensile strength of 1655 per side, for a total of 3311 lbs, the weakest point . While the bearing is super strong, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. One can easily go wider on the becket on my blocks, which I usually do, something you can't do on a commercially made block. What they sell is what you get.
Checked out some Harken, Lewmar and Schafer blocks. Only tiny bits of metal holding them together, especially the beckets.
I don't anticipate any similar calculations from Steve ( Smackdaddy ) . Just more adolescent jeering .

+++++++++Here is my first post on the blocks after I finally found the photos.++++++++++++++

Finally! I found those pics of the $2 blocks Brent was talking about:

Quote:

Make your own block and test it. It only takes 20 minutes and $2 worth of materials.

The cheeks of a sheet block can be easily jig sawed out of 3/16th aluminium scrap. Some use spacers which can be made out of pipe , on the becket end, to space them the same as the width of the sheave. I prefer to leave the two cheeks attached by a strip of 3/4 inch wide aluminium, then bend it 180 degrees to make the becket. These cheeks should be sanded very smooth and well rounded to eliminate chafe.
Then it' s simply a matter of running a 3/8th ss bolt thru the sheave to make up the block.
You can make up sheaves by running a hole saw thru a sheet of plastic , such as a cutting board. Micarta, salvaged from electrical panels makes even better sheaves which will last several lifetimes. Black plastic is far more UV resistance , if you can find it.
After hole sawing it out, you put a carriage bolt thru it and put it in a drill chuck. Then you use a vise and machine the groove in it , using the drill like a lathe.
You can use a spacer to make a double block, or put different sized sheaves in line, like the yachtie blocks.
While I think bearings are a gimmick , if you insist , you can make the hole in the sheave a half inch wider than the bolt, then stack bits of 1/4 inch rod , made out of any material you like, around the pin and viola, roller bearings.
I have made a single block this way, using only hand tools in 20 minutes, a far stronger and more reliable block than most of the super expensive "Yachtie " blocks people get conned out of large sums of money for. A billionaire can't buy a better block for any amount of money. It takes less time to build one than it takes to travel to the ship swindler and buy a block .
Yet another of many examples of how building your own produces a far better product than the cheque book delivers.
Last edited by Brent Swain; 10-17-2011 at 04:35 PM.

I assume these are from his own boat - which starts to give some small indication of its condition. I guess we all have different measures of "perfection".

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

As you can see, they are in perfect condition, with zero wear or corrosion after 29 years , and many Pacific crossings. If you want "shiny" you can do it in minutes with a brillo pad on a grinder. That has never been a priority for me. I prefer to concentrate on structurally and functionally sound. I have no interest in impressing anyone but the practical.

Thanks for posting these Smack. They make my point.

I then offered to buy one of his blocks for $11 (half the price of the $22 Garhauer, and 500% more than his cost to make it) and test them both to destruction as he's laid out below in the next post. Still no luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

A friend sailed to New Zealand and back, with stock "yachty" style blocks. They had black anodized aluminium cheeks with stainless straps over them. The corrosion between the SS and the aluminium swelled the cheeks tight against the sheaves, causing them to freeze solid, in such a brief, one year trip. That is the kind of perfectionism Smack advocates. As long as it has a brand name on it, it must be perfect. My blocks have had no problems in decades . That is my definition of perfection, not decorative priorities over reliability. I still see those failed blocks for sale in yachty stores ,for high prices, for those "knuckleheads "gullible enough to judge marine hardware by the price tag and it's decorativeness. I see some lewmar blocks with 1/4 inch stainless shackles with 1/4 inch pins, and flimsy plastic cheeks , for $40 each.
How does the high price tag and brand name make plastic and tiny shackles stronger than the amount of metal holding my blocks together? How dose the tiny amount of stainless around the shackle pin get strengthened to more than the amount of aluminium in the beckets on my blocks, by adding a brand name and high price tag? They give the safe working load at 900 lbs, a fraction the strength of the half inch line going over it. I believe all blocks, cleats and mooring bitts should be stronger than the biggest line that will be used on them. That is simply good seamanship ( unlike what Smack advocates|)
You can easily make a strength comparision between my blocks and commercially made blocks . Just tie a loop of rope around a tree and the other end to the becket of one. Then tie another loop of half inch Dacron around the two blocks and tie the other becket to the back bumper of a car, with lots of slack . Then get in the car and put the pedal to the metal, and see which one breaks first. If your theory holds, then you believe that mine will break first, and you will be out 20 minutes and $2. So why don't you try it? Because you know full well that your commercially made block wont stand a hope in hell!
What is your theory on that? Or do you simply believe that mother nature is kinder, and more gentle, to materials which look like something out of a blister pack from a yachty store?
Didn't know mother nature was that consumer biased .

I’m still waiting for my BrentBlock so I can do the test he lays out above. So far - he hasn’t delivered.

Are you suggesting that not having a bow roller on a boat should never be questioned? Is this what they get from you for $150 an hour? How many other inadequacies do you suggest ,should be hidden, to avoid being accused of being "Tiresome?" You suggest that none of your screw ups should ever be questioned? Wouldn't it be better for you to not make them, or to correct them in the first place?
Seeing people trying to cruise in grossly inadequate boats is very tiresome, a problem created by the "tiresome" who design , build and sell such boats, while trying to hide their inadequacies from buyers.. Warning people of their inadequacies is no doubt 'Tiresome " to those trying to hide such inadequacies from potential buyers of what they are selling, and pull a fast one on them.
I'm sure the auto industry found Ralph Nader's warnings about the inadequacies of what they were selling "Tiresome."
Would you suggest that he should have not bothered to warn the public, and just let their victims die , to avoid being accused of being "Tiresome?"

Nice to know where you are coming from.

I am able to recognize a preliminary rendering for what it is - preliminary. Do you also assume the boat will have no mainsheet?

Your comparison to Nader is very apropos - he was a one track messiah who was mostly full of $hit as well. The difference is he had a huge audience of ignoramuses to buy into his cr@p whereas you are preaching to a knowledgeable and experienced audience

__________________
I, myself, personally intend to continue being outspoken and opinionated, intolerant of all fanatics, fools and ignoramuses, deeply suspicious of all those who have "found the answer" and on my bad days, downright rude.

Brent:
you are being silly again. The boat has had a bow roller from day one. It's all there on the drawings. I do produce drawings. It's part of our ultra expensive cast 316 s.s.s stem fitting. Pretty much a clone of the system Hinckley has used for years, effective and attractive. It's been there for anyone to see who has followed the thread. We are going to 3D print it and cast it from the 3D part. That's new and exciting for me.

....

Bob, I find that ugly. That boat deserves a fold in system. The black boat I posted some posts back is a big Hanse and has the system.

Some years ago when Hanse was young they provided the system as option on smaller boats and I had tried it. It works like a charm. It is balanced in a way that you can rotate it with the anchor included with no force at all and it goes slow and smoothly to its position.

I guess they stop using it on smaller boats because it is expensive and gives work to mount properly.

By choosing to post the reply above you agree to the rules you agreed to when joining Sailnet.
Click Here to view those rules.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the SailNet Community forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.Please note: After entering 3 characters a list of Usernames already in use will appear and the list will disappear once a valid Username is entered.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.